DeKalb County grew by nearly 9,000 residents from 2016 to 2017, according to data released Thursday by the Atlanta Regional Commission.

That put the county behind Georgia’s other top four most populous counties and the city of Atlanta. Fulton led the list, growing by 17,100 people; Gwinnett was second with almost 17,000; Cobb was third with nearly 13,000. Atlanta grew by nearly 10,000, the estimates said.

The commission figures DeKalb’s population is now 733,900, which makes it the fourth largest county in Georgia.

“The Atlanta region was slow to emerge from the recession, but strong growth in the past few years shows that our recovery has taken hold,” said Mike Carnathan, manager of ARC’s Research and Analytics Group. “People are moving here because jobs are plentiful to a wide variety of job seekers.”

For more on metro Atlanta's growth, read here.

Like DeKalb County News Now on Facebook | Follow on Twitter and Instagram

In other news: 

Interview with Dr. Steven Green, Superintendent of Dekalb County Schools. Dr Green talks about his interaction with students and parents on the first day of school 2017. Footage from Edward L. Bouie Sr. Elementary school.